Harrod
Originally a surname for someone descended from Harold, with a possible secondary link to places called Harrold.
The #6,855 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,894 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Harrod is generally explained as a short form or spelling variant of Harold, the old Germanic personal name made famous in England by King Harold. In that sense, it means essentially 'son of Harold' or 'descended from Harold.' Some older sources also mention a possible local link to Harrold in Bedfordshire, but the patronymic explanation is the main one.
History
The name appears in English surname sources as a variant of Harold, Harrold, and related forms. Older surname dictionaries also noted that Harold itself was never especially common as a forename, which helps explain why the surname is less frequent than many other patronymics. In some cases, especially in English records, Harrod may also have been influenced by local place-name spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 20th-century surname scholar grouped Harrod with surnames that arose from Old English personal names ending in -weald, showing how easily medieval spellings could shift over time.
From the historical record
“HARRISON. See Henry. HARROD. 1. Harold. 2. Harewood. HARROP. See Harrap. HARROW. A town in INIiddlesex. HARROWER. The occupatiou. A tiller of laud. HARRY. See Henry. Harry was fami- liarly applied even to royal Henries. See Shakspeare, passim.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom